Feasting on God's Word (One Year Bible)

“A glorious throne, exalted from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary” ( Jeremiah 17:12 ). The Lord is enthroned on the praises of His people - “Jesus, we enthrone You ... We lift You up with our praise. And as we worship, build Your throne. Come, Lord Jesus, and take Your place.” When the Lord is enthroned on the praises of His people, there will also be prayer and proclamation - “Devote yourselves to prayer ... that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ ... clearly” ( Colossians 4:2-4 ). The blessing of the Lord is upon those who come to His House, seeking Him: “Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord. From the House of the Lord we bless you” ( Psalm 118:26 ).

Our spiritual warfare is both outward and inward. We have enemies coming at us from without and from within. Concerning the enemies from without, God says, “This people will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to rescue and save you ... I will save you from the hands of the wicked and redeem you from the grasp of the cruel” ( Jeremiah 15:20-21 ). Concerning the enemies from within, God says, “Put to death ... whatever belongs to your earthly nature” ( Colossians 3:5 ). We are not to “fret because of evil men” ( Proverbs 24:19 ). We are to “fear the Lord” ( Proverbs 24:21 ).

The life of faith is a life of conflict. We live among “the faithless” - God is “always on their lips, but far from their hearts” ( Jeremiah 12:12 ). We are called to maintain the faith in the face of “hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world’s rather than on Christ” ( Colossians 2:8 ). There is conflict, but there is also victory  - “The Lord is with me ... I will look in triumph over my enemies ... “ ( Psalm 118:6-8 ).

The Lord’s people are called to a ministry of preaching the Gospel and teaching the Word ( Jeremiah 11:6 ; Colossians 1:25 , 28 ). While this ministry is carried out by particular individuals, e.g. Jeremiah and Paul, it is a ministry which is strengthened by the support and encouragement which comes from the Lord’s people. It is not only to the preachers and teachers that God says, “Extol Him.” He says, “Extol Him all you people” ( Psalm 117:1 ). 

There is a great contrast between sin - “Do not trust your brothers. For every brother is a deceiver ... and no-one speaks the truth” ( Jeremiah 9:4-5 ) - and salvation - “the holy and faithful brothers in Christ ... the Words of truth, the Gospel ... has come to you” ( Colossians 1:2 , 5-6 ). God is calling us from sin to salvation, and then on to service. Those who say, “I will lift up the cup of salvation” go on to say, “O Lord, I am Your servant” ( Psalm 116:13 , 16 ). This service is offered to the Lord in gratitude for His salvation,. We acknowledge Him as Saviour, saying, “You have freed me from my chains”, and we say to Him, “I will sacrifice a thank-offering to You” ( Psalm 116:17 ).

Day 29 4 Jeremiah 48:1-49:6 ; 2 Timothy 1:1-18 ; Psalm 119:81-88 “A curse on him who is lax in doing the Lord’s work!” ( Jeremiah 48:10 ). We should not be lax in doing the Lord’s work, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a Spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” ( 2 Timothy 1:7 ). Through the power of the Spirit of God, we are able to say, with Paul, “I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that Day” ( 2 Timothy 1:12 ). Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are enabled to “obey the statutes of Your mouth” ( Psalm 119:88 ). Day 29 5 Jeremiah 49:7-50:10 ; 2 Timothy 2:1-26 ; Proverbs 25:21-26:2 Jeremiah speaks of a time of judgment upon Babylon ( Jeremiah 50:1-3 ) and a time of blessing upon the people of Israel ( Jeremiah 50:4-5 ). If the blessing, and not the judgment, is to come in our own day, we must be faithful in the ministry of God’s Word ...

The Word of God is to be preached, even if it is a difficult message. In face of the judgment pronounced upon Babylon , God says to His messengers, “When you get to Babylon , see that you read all these words aloud” ( Jeremiah 51:61 ). Paul calls on Timothy to “preach the Word” - “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His Kingdom, I give you this charge” ( 2 Timothy 4:1-2 ). Those who truly love the Lord’s Word and meditate on it all day long ( Psalm 119:97 ) will find it their joyful privilege and their solemn responsibility to speak His Word; “How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth” ( Psalm 119:103 ).

This part of Jeremiah’s prophecy is concerned with God’s judgment upon Babylon . God sets Himself against those who set themselves against Him. We live in times when “evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived” ( 2 Timothy 3:13 ). In such times, we must build upon “the Holy (God-breathed) Scriptures which are able to make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” and which will “thoroughly equip us for every good work” ( 2 Timothy 3:15-17 ). This Word of the Lord is “eternal”, and God’s “faithfulness continues through all generations” ( Psalm 119:89-90 ). To say that God’s Word is eternal does not mean that it is distant and remote from time. Rather, it is to emphasize that it is relevant. It is relevant to every generation. It is eternally relevant.

Jeremiah speaks of a time of judgment upon Babylon ( Jeremiah 50:1-3 ) and a time of blessing upon the people of Israel ( Jeremiah 50:4-5 ). If the blessing, and not the judgment, is to come in our own day, we must be faithful in the ministry of God’s Word ( 2 Timothy 2:15 ). Faithful ministry of God’s Word is “like cold water to a weary soul.” It is “good news from a distant land” ( Proverbs 25:25 ). It is the Good News sent down from heaven, the Living Water of the Holy Spirit.

God is calling us to move forward into His future. He's calling us to move forward with Him. He's calling us to move forward for Him. How are we to move forward with God? How are we to move forward for Him? If we are to move forward with God and for God, we must listen to those who have gone before us, and we must learn from them. Let us look back to the prophets and the apostles. Let us look back to our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us listen to them. Let us learn from them. We begin with one of the prophets - Jeremiah. After that, we will look at the apostles, at the beginning of the book of Acts. Then, we will listen to Jesus, our Saviour, and we will learn from Him. After we have learned from the apostles, the prophets and the Saviour, we will return to the question: How are we to move forward with God and for God. Jeremiah 1:4-8 Jeremiah's call to serve God seems to come as a bolt from the blue. He was completely taken aback. He was surprised. He was shock...

Jeremiah’s ministry was a call from God to the people – a call to “listen to the Word of the Lord” (Jeremiah 44:24). Listening to what the Lord has to say to us will mean being ready to revise our own ideas. Our thoughts, without the guiding Word from the Lord, will be very different from thoughts which have been shaped by the Word of the Lord.

Jeremiah 31:7-14 “Sing with joy” (Jeremiah 31:7,12-13). This is to be our response to the Gospel. It’s more than a singalong. It’s “praise.” This praise continues after we leave the place of worship. “Shout” - “I am not ashamed” (Romans 1:16). “Proclaim” - Make the message known: “for the Good News” (Romans 1:1,5-6). This for everyone (Jeremiah 31:8,10). We come as we are - “blind” and “lame” (Jeremiah 31:8). We come to our “Shepherd” (Jeremiah 31:10). He has “ransomed” us. He has “redeemed” us from the “power” of Satan, Our enemy is stronger than we are, but he is not stronger than Jesus - “the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:40. With Christ in our life, everything changes - “new wine, fresh oil... Their life will be... They will be no longer...” (Jeremiah 31:12). It is “abundant” life, a “satisfied” life (Jeremiah 31:14). We have received new life in Christ - “This is the Lord’s declaration concerning us (Jeremiah 31:14).

We are not to be afraid of those who oppose God and His Word (Jeremiah 42:11). We are to trust God. We are to stand on the promises that He has given to us in His Word – “I will have compassion on you” (Jeremiah 42:12).

Jeremiah speaks of God’s judgment - “I’m bringing disaster and widespread destruction ...” (Jeremiah 4:6). This message comes to us as a word of warning, a plea to the people to return to the Lord and find His mercy - “So put on sackcloth, mourn and cry because the Lord’s burning anger hasn’t turned away from us” (Jeremiah 4:8). This is the call to repentance. We read of God’s burning anger, and we wonder,”Is there still the hope of God’s blessing?” God is speaking of His judgment - “Nation of Israel, I’m going to bring a nation from far away to attack you,declares the Lord, I won’t destroy all of you” (Jeremiah 5:15,18). God’s Word  concerning the threat of judgment is a call to the people to honour Him as God: “Pay attention to My warning, Jerusalem, or I will turn away from you. I will make your land desolate ...” (Jeremiah 6:8). The ministry of Jeremiah differs from the ministry of the false prophets. They say, “Everything is alright!” He says, “It’s not alright!...

Jeremiah was called into the service of the eternal God - “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart for My holy purpose. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5). Jeremiah called the people back to the Lord, “the fountain of living (life-giving) water” (Jeremiah 2:13). He called them to be converted - to turn around. They were turning their backs on the Lord. They were replacing Him with something else, something useless, something that would never bring them real satisfaction (Jeremiah 2:13). Now, they were to turn their faces to Him (Jeremiah 2:27). To a returning people, God promises his mercy - “Come back, unfaithful Israel. It is the Lord speaking. I will no longer frown on you because I’m merciful, declares the Lord, I will no longer be angry with you.” returning to the Lord means confessing our sins - “Admit that you’ve done wrong! You have rebelled against the Lord your God ...” The message of Jeremi...

God speaks to His people about their sin - " The people of Jerusalem turned away from Me without ever returning ..." (Jeremiah 8:5). He is not pleased with them. He is calling them to return to Him - " Change the way you live ..." (Jeremiah 7:3). The life of Israel is “like the desert” (Jeremiah 9:12). This moral and spiritual desert is described in Jeremiah 9:13-14 - “The Lord answered, They’ve abandoned My teachings that I placed in front of them. They didn’t obey Me, and they didn’t follow them, They followed their own stubborn ways and other gods ...” This was a serious situation. These words are very relevant to today’s Church and world. God is not being taken seriously. His Word  is being ignored. The situation goes from bad to worse. God is speaking. Few people are listening. He speaks through His Word. Few people are reading His Word. We must listen to what God says and do what He tells us to do.

“The days are coming”: These words introduce a prophecy concerning the land (Jeremiah 30:3). The greatest blessing is not being in the land. It is belonging to the Lord. This is the blessing, spoken of by Jeremiah. When, speaking God’s Word, he writes, “You will be My people, and I will be your God” (Jeremiah 30:22).

There’s realism in the ministry of Jeremiah. He prophesies the Babylonian captivity. There is also hope. He looks beyond the Babylonian captivity: “They will be taken to Babylon and stay there.I come for them, declares the Lord. I will take them from there and bring them back to this place” (Jeremiah 27:22). The way we are led may not be easy. The destination will be glorious. When things are going badly, we must never lose sight of the final goal of God’s working in us and through us. Beyond the suffering, there is the glory.

“The Lord is the only God. He is the living God and eternal King” (Jeremiah 10:10). The contrast between God and the gods is simple. God made us. We made the gods. In the Lord our God, there is majesty and mystery - the majesty of the “eternal King”, the mystery that He is always beyond our understanding. Before this majesty and mystery, we bow down in worship. We acknowledge his greatness. We give Him glory. He is worthy of our worship. When God speaks His Word to us, “Obey Me, and do everything that I have told you to do. Then you will be My people, and I will be your God.  I will keep the oath I made to your ancestors and give them a land flowing with milk and honey, the land you still have today.” We are to give our answer, “Yes, Lord ” (Jeremiah 11:4-5). There will be many times when our "devotion" to the Lord will be put to the "test" (Jeremiah 12:3). These will be times of temptation - times when our 'Yes, Lord' could so easily become ...

" ... Will you ... come and stand before Me in this house, which bears My Name, and say, We are safe" - safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house, which bears My Name become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord" (Jeremiah 7:8-11). “God demands a conversion of the mind and heart as the basis of peace and security (cf. Is 26:3), not the superstitious veneration of a stone building or a traditionally sacred site” ( R K Harrison , Jeremiah ).